The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Cyril, on Monday denounced attempts to sow division between Muslims and Jews in Russia as a result of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Hundreds of people stormed the main airport in Russia’s Muslim-majority republic of Dagestan on Sunday after calls on the Telegram network seeking Jewish passengers on a flight from Israel.
“I believe that what happened was an attempt to sow discord between Muslims and Russian Jews, who have maintained good relations of friendship and cooperation for centuries,” Cirilo said in a statement quoted by the French agency AFP.
Cirilo said that “there is no moral justification for those who planned the attack on innocent people” traveling to Dagestan.
“They are not and cannot be responsible for what is happening in the Middle East,” said the patriarch, a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin (presidency) spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that the clashes in Dagestan were “largely the result of external interference, including external intelligence services.”
Peskov did not specify who he was referring to, but the head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, accused Ukraine of fueling the incidents.
“Today we have received absolutely reliable information that the channel ‘Dagestan Mornings’ is controlled from the territory of Ukraine,” Melikov said, quoted by Spanish agency EFE.
Melikov was referring to a Telegram channel that Russian authorities say incited the predominantly Muslim population of Russia’s southwestern republic to occupy the airport.
Peskov announced that the Russian president has called a meeting for today to “discuss Western attempts to use events in the Middle East to divide Russian society.”
Without giving any evidence or name, Patriarch Cyril said he had no doubt that “the forces that stop at nothing to provoke unrest” in Russia helped provoke the incidents.
It is “an attempt to overcome confrontation [entre Israel e o Hamas] which is foreign to us in our own country,” he said.
Cirilo expressed support “for the Islamic leaders who called for an end to the disturbances.”
Dagestan authorities said more than 20 people, including nine police officers, were injured in the incidents and 60 were arrested.
Thousands of people have protested in recent days in several countries, including Europe and the United States, against Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas said Israeli attacks have killed more than 8,000 people in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
The current conflict followed a Hamas raid on Israel on October 7, which Israeli authorities said left more than 1,400 dead.
Hamas has also kidnapped more than 200 Israelis and foreigners it is holding hostage in the Gaza Strip, an area of 2.3 million it has controlled since 2007.
Source: DN
